J Korean Med Assoc.  2022 Nov;65(11):748-757. 10.5124/jkma.2022.65.11.748.

Statistical analysis of the cause of death in Korea in 2019

• Vital Statistics Division, Statistics Korea
• Noh H
• Seo J
• Lee S
• Yi N
• Park S
• Huh S

• KMID: 2536611
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.5124/jkma.2022.65.11.748

Abstract

Background
This study aimed to present and analyze the causes of death in the Korean population in 2019.
Methods
Based on the Korean Standard Classification of Diseases and Causes of Death and the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, 10th revision, cause-of-death data for 2019 from Statistics Korea were examined.
Results
There were 295,110 total deaths, a decrease of 3,710 (-1.27%) from 2018. The crude death rate (the number of deaths per 100,000 people) was 574.8, a decrease of 7.6 (-1.3%) from 2018. The top ten causes of death, in descending order, were malignant neoplasms, heart disease, pneumonia, cerebrovascular disease, intentional self-harm, diabetes mellitus, Alzheimer disease, liver disease, chronic lower respiratory disease, and hypertension. Within the malignant neoplasm category, the top five organs affected were the lung, liver, colon, stomach, and pancreas (in the same order as in 2018). Alzheimer disease moved up from ninth to seventh on the list of leading causes of death in 2018. Among women, it ranked as the fifth leading cause of death, while pneumonia became the third leading cause of death.
Conclusion
These changes reflect the increasing number of women > 65 years who are vulnerable to cognitive impairment and infectious diseases. The Korean government must urgently take preventive and therapeutic measures against dementia, especially Alzheimer disease.

Keyword

Alzheimer disease; Cause of death; International Classification of Diseases; Neoplasms; Republic of Korea; 알츠하이머병; 사망원인; 국제질병분류; 신생물; 대한민국